𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 | 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

All I Need & All Things Guaranteed

"Nothing happened —"

"Bullshit!" exclaimed Harry, staring at his best friend, looking as though his eyes were permanently bulged out of their sockets. "You sneaky bastard! I was wondering where you two might've gone, even Slughorn asked where you had buggered off to. Now, I understand! You left the party early so the two of you could sha—"

But before Harry could finish, Charlie had smacked a hand over his mouth, silencing him at once.

"Would you keep your voice down? Ron's going to come barging back in here at any minute," whispered Charlie, although he had to resist the urge to laugh.

Harry nodded reluctantly and swatted Charlie's hand away, his mouth still hanging open in shock.

"I don't understand the two of you at all," he muttered, looking towards the door cautiously. "You and Hermione were at each other's throats not twenty-four hours ago."

Charlie shrugged, putting his hands up in a mock surrender, "What do you want from me? You think I planned for this? Everything happened so fast — it was an accident."

"Right," murmured Harry, rolling his eyes playfully. "Somehow you just accidentally stuck your tongue down her throat, is that it?"

"It wasn't like that," defended Charlie, as he picked up a pillow from his bed to smack Harry across the face. "It was a heat of the moment thing."

"And do you think Hermione thinks of it that way?" questioned Harry, raising a suggestive brow. "Or is she half expecting the two of you to get back together?"

"Dunno... all she said afterwards was that we still had a lot to talk about," mumbled Charlie, slumping against the four-poster once more. "I'm not sure whether that's meant to be good or bad."

"Probably should've thought of that before you took her to bed," Harry scolded in a matter-of-fact tone, closing the clasps on his trunk shut. "But once again, you've proven to have thought with the wrong head..."

Registering Harry's joke, Charlie couldn't stop a laugh from bursting from his lips. Not long after, his cheeks began to hurt from smiling so much, although he was now freed of the trembling anxiousness that had inhabited his mind.

And then suddenly, Harry was laughing too, unable to control himself. The two best friends roared with simultaneous chuckles that ricocheted off the walls, somehow reminding themselves that they were still immature children at heart.

"What's so funny?" questioned an intruding voice. Charlie and Harry turned to find Ron stood in the doorway, observing with a toothbrush dangling out his mouth and an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Oh, we were just talking about the vampire we met at Slughorn's party last night," Harry said, and Charlie subconsciously applauded his quick-thinking. "You should've seen him, Ron, I could've sworn he was gonna sink his teeth into one of the Carrow twins."

"Right," murmured Ron, moving across the room to his four-poster. He stopped just short of the bed frame and turned around, hoping to start a conversation, "So, have you finished packing?"

"Just about," said Harry, patting his closed trunk with a grin; Charlie tensed at the awkwardness, for him and Ron had yet to acknowledge one another. Clearing his throat, Harry added, "You?"

"Yeah, finished last night. Unlike you lot, I didn't have anything better to do, you see... I've already left my stuff with Filch," grumbled Ron waspishly. When he received no response, he narrowed his eyes in Charlie's direction, looking a bit withdrawn, "Are you sure you don't want to come home for the holidays? Mum has been wondering wh—"